Soon we will celebrate one of the most important events of the Christian calendar. As we celebrate the Easter event, the raising of our Lord Jesus to life forevermore, we are filled with the hope that the same might someday happen to us.

Our churches will be alive with spirited singing and decorated with lilies, long a symbol of new life. We will be happy. We will rejoice with our whole being. We will be caught up in the celebration of the moment, and we will have forgotten what is happening in the world outside.

You see, not everyone will be rejoicing. Not everyone will be full of hope. Not everyone knows Jesus and the significance of the Easter event.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Matthew 23:37-39).

As I read these words, I picture Jesus standing on a hillside overlooking Jerusalem with tears in His eyes. For three years, He has tried to help these people, and they refused to listen. Their hope is almost lost. Their destruction is on the way. Jesus tried, and now He cries.

As we look around at what is happening in our community, as well as around the world, I ask myself “Does Jesus weep for us? Has he given up all hope for us?”

• A 67-year-old man is beaten outside a restaurant in an attempted robbery. He has no money. The attacker gets away.

• A newborn infant is left abandoned on a muddy country road. It is found dead, possibly run over by a vehicle and mauled by animal. The parents cannot be found.

• We waste food and throw so much away while there are starving people in our own country and throughout the world.

• We allow our government to legalize killing by legalizing abortion.

• We have jurors in Los Angeles, Calif., afraid to pass a verdict because of the ramifications of their decision. Justice cannot be carried out because of fear.

• We spend more money on death and not life as we continue to support the military while taking away money from the needy and the elderly.

• Our government continues to stray farther and farther away from the Christian principles on which our country was founded, and as a result, we continue in a spiral decline in economy, education, morals and every aspect of life.

Does Jesus weep for us? I really think that He does. I really think that He weeps for us every day because we have turned our back to Him. He is losing hope and ready to enact our punishment.

But all is not yes lost. Through the scriptures, we can still find hope.

“If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (Chronicles 7:14).

Does Jesus weep for us? He doesn’t have to as long as we turn to Him and make Him Lord of our life. Is Jesus Lord of your life, or are you part of the reason that he weeps for us? You can change that right now by turning to Him. Do so, and the joy that will be celebrated at Easter can be yours.